benefits of cardio

[Fish]

"Cardio" is ambiguous - there are different workouts that benefit your cardiovascular system in different ways. You can do low intensity endurance work outs where you keep your heart rate moderate over a long period, or you can do lactic threshold work, where you get your heart rate up to the threshold between aerobic/ anaerobic work and keep it there for 20 to 30 minutes, or you can do high intensity interval work, where you work at 85% of your maximum heart rate for short bursts, with rest in between.

 

If you're doing low intensity work, you can do it every day (once you're conditioned to it) without ill effects. But once you do high intensity work, you have to give your body time to recover afterwards. Usually, you should allow between a week and two weeks between high intensity workouts, depending on your fitness.

 

The key is to get a heart rate monitor and a good book about how to use it.

[yan]

tnx aefibird... now i undrstand. can you plz. refer me to some good karate websites? one w/ pictures or illustrations together w/ the name of the technique. i came by one but its in spanish and i don't speak a word of spanish. tnx. again

[yan]

tnx fish. Is it okay if I ride the exercycle on mondays, jump rope on wednessdays, and swim on fridays? note: only one day rest between each workout. is this safe?

[steveb]

It is perfectly safe. You can do moderate cardio everyday without any problem. Even after a high intensity cardio day some active recovery (low to moderate intensity) would be good. I would define low intensity effort at up to 65% max heartrate, moderate from 65% to 85%, and high as anything over 85%.

[Fish]

I'm in training for the London Marathon at the moment (in between bouts of bronchitis). That involves running 5 or 6 days a week, albeit usually at low to moderate intensity, with one long run a week. On top of that, Karate, and swimming once a week. It isn't harmful, but you have to eat well, get plenty of sleep, stretch plenty and listen to your body and take an extra easy day or day off if you need it. As far as I understand (but this is from running/ triatholon books, not karate ones), you need to do at least 3 cardio sessions of about 30 minutes a week to have a significant benefit. The three you have suggested sound good, and are perfectly safe. In fact cycling and swimming are good choices, because your body weight is supported so much less risk of injury.

[yan]

its good to know that what im doing is safe... tnx fish . sometimes i go swimming but all i can do is one lap (25 meters) and then i rest until my heart rate is stable then do another lap and so on... will this contribute to my cardiovascular endurance? and when i talked to my sensai bout cardiovascular endurance (stamina) he said i should run 30 minutes a day. is this right? isn't running a high intensity cardiovascular workout? and aren't you supposed to rest at least one day in between... tnx in advance to those who can contribute some information on this matter

[aefibird]

can you plz. refer me to some good karate websites? one w/ pictures or illustrations together w/ the name of the technique. i came by one but its in spanish and i don't speak a word of spanish.

 

Try these:

 

Richard Amuzu's Karate Guide

 

Shotokan Karate Database

 

Karate on the Web

 

Shotokan Karate For Everyone

 

The Cyber Dojo

 

Wonder Okinawa

 

Karate Database

 

Karate Resource

 

(this website is run by a Karate Forums member, AngelaG)

 

[steveb]

will doing cardio every day kill you? well i mean is it not good for your health. i have read somewhere that you should give each cardio workout 3 days before doing another one. but another one said if you stop doing your "workout" (i'm not sure if it was pertaining to cardio or another kind of excercise) for more than one day you might fall back from the level of fittness you are in. which of these 2 are true? and if anyone has any statistics to back it up i would really appreciate it. thanx

 

Doing cardio workouts every day will NOT kill you. Most experts recommend doing 4-5 cardio workouts of at least 30 mins each per week to get maximum health benefits. I would not advise skipping 3 days between each cardio workout for the reason stated above. If you do a particularly hard workout you should rest or do active recovery (slower paced light exercise) the next day. Also, it usually takes about 2 weeks of inactivity before you start losing your fitness level. Skipping rope is excellent cardio work as others have stated as long as you can maintain it for about 30 mins. If you are just starting out and cannot maintain that duration then perhaps some cycling, jogging, or swimming would be better to begin with.